Increased self-development is very important to Noémi. Even when she was told that she was overqualified for the vocational school programme Children with Special Needs, she wanted to take the programme to increase the competence of vulnerable children.
Grateful for the opportunity
Noémi is originally from Slovakia and has lived in Norway for 15 years. Before moving to Norway, Noémi taught for eight years in Slovakia. When she came to Norway, she started her career as a kindergarten assistant, then a preschool teacher, and later started working at school as a teacher.
Her decision to take the vocational school programme in Children with Special Needs in Stavanger was driven by a desire to provide better care and support to the most vulnerable children. Despite concerns about over-qualification, Noémi took the chance and is today grateful that she did.
The vocational programme Children with Special Needs focuses on giving students the skills to work with children and young people who need extra support and adaptation in school and everyday life. The programme covers subjects such as pedagogy, psychology, special needs education, communication and inclusion. The aim is to equip students to contribute to the positive development and learning of children and young people with various forms of special needs.
Noémi says that her educational experience at AOF Vestlandet-Agder has been very positive. She describes the lectures as both interesting and at a high professional level. She particularly appreciates the fact that the lecture material was available 2-3 days before each class, which allowed her to prepare and look up Norwegian terms she wasn’t familiar with beforehand.
Through the programme, Noémi has experienced increased expertise in psychology and pedagogy. She has also gained access to new research and feels that the programme has been relevant to today’s society.
Increased expertise, above wage growth
The VET programme has not had a direct impact on Noémi’s career, as she was technically overqualified for the programme. However, she believes that the programme will have a positive impact on her fellow students working as kindergarten assistants, teacher assistants or as child and youth workers, who are likely to experience a salary increase as a result of increased competence. For Noémi, it’s not about a pay rise, but rather about broadening her professional horizons.
Everyone can do it
Noémi believes that too few people know about the vocational school programmes offered by AOF Vestlandet-Agder. She has already managed to arouse the interest of several of her colleagues in these programmes. She also emphasises that the lecturers maintained a high professional level throughout the programme. Despite the programme being free of charge, she feels that the investment of time and effort has been well worth it. “Anyone can do it, even if the classes are 1-2 times a week,” she says with a smile, adding with humour that the only thing that suffered a little during her studies was the housework at home.
Even though the classes were held in the evenings, they were so interesting that I never had trouble staying awake.
Continues its professional development
Noémi had an exciting week with both a written in-depth assignment and a nerve-wracking oral exam. She was delighted when she got a B on the specialisation assignment and an A on the exam.
Now Noémi is looking forward to continuing her professional development. She has decided to take Norwegian 1 further education first, but is determined to start the Positive Behaviour Support (PAS) vocational school programme at AOF Vestlandet-Agder in Stavanger next year.
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